RECAP: Arkansas Can’t Overcome Defecit in Missouri

For just the sixth time this season, Arkansas was held to under 70 points and fell in their regular season finale 67-77. The loss puts them at 21-10 on the year and 10-8 in SEC play. Arkansas will head into the SEC Tournament in the 6-seed, which is exactly where they were predicted to fall in the preseason. The bottom half of the conference is still battling things out to determine who the Hogs will play.

After trailing for the majority of the game, Arkansas was able to tie things at 51 with an Anton Beard layup. It was the result of some good defense, scrappy offense and closing an eight point halftime deficit. That expended all the energy the Hogs had because Mizzou had an answer. That answer was a 12-2 run that would put the Hogs down for good. They wouldn’t closer than six points the rest of the night.

The Hogs had four finish in double figures, but it wasn’t an efficient night for their star guards. Daryl Macon had 12 points on 3/8 shooting and Jaylen Barford was 4/13 from the field to get 12 points. Beard and Gafford were the other two to hit double figures. Beard had 11 on 4/8 shooting, while Gafford led the Hogs with 16 on 7/10 shooting.

Because of the wins over Alabama and Auburn, Arkansas should still feel good about their NCAA Tournament chances. The Hogs were predicted to finish 6th in the SEC and had a shot at being a tournament team. They finished 6th and will likely be a reasonable seed in the NCAA Tournament. All and all a successful year, the Hogs will almost certainly make the tournament in back to back seasons for the first time since 2007 and 2008. Next up, it’s tourney time.